There exists a need to minimize unwanted camera motion, which tends to occur when the structure that the camera is mounted to has motion that is inherent in the particular location or application that the desired camera shot is wanted, such as in the case of mounting a camera to a marine vessel that at the very least has rolling motion from waves, wind, and the like. This problem is well recognized in the prior art with a number of complex to simple solutions in existence. The solutions exist either within the camera itself and/or are in the camera support or mounting apparatus. The typical complex solution to the aforementioned problem is with the use of either a gyroscopic mount or the use of a gimbal bearing(s) that allows multi axis movement that is typically termed; roll, pitch, and yaw of a portion of the camera mount that is affixed to for instance, the marine vessel while helping to stabilize the other portion of the camera mount so that the camera keeps a true orientation to the horizon or a selected position with minimal unwanted movement. There are additional enhancements to either the gyroscopic mount or to the gimbal bearing for computer control to help maintain a desired orientation of the camera. Simpler prior art solutions would involve a pendulum mount type of arrangement having single axis or multiple axis capabilities with a counterweight to help maintain the camera orientation to the horizon with movement of the non pendulum portion of the camera mount.
An example of a complex prior art solution would be in U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,223 to Tritchew et al. that is a stabilizing platform system for a camera that helps isolate the camera from multiple axis motion being about the roll, pitch, and yaw axes including a passive vibration isolator, this is accomplished by the use of multiple gimbal bearings and dampened coil springs, or optionally multiple magnetic torque motors for controlling positioning force against the gimbal bearing(s). Tritchew et al. would be considered a high end type of camera stabilizing apparatus by having control over multiple axes of undesired camera movement, a vibration isolator, and the ability to control camera movement. A further example of a complex part solution would be in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2003/0007795 A1 to Grober that is a stabilizing camera mount specifically designed to mount upon a buoy that is acted upon by a wave motion when the camera mount attempts to stabilize the camera's view in multiple axes and having remote control for relative camera positioning. Grober utilizes either an electronically stabilized device or a gimbal bearing.
An example of a simple prior art solution would be in U.S. Pat. No. 5,243,370 to Slater that is a camera stabilizer using counterweights on an extension beam that utilizes the inertia of the weights to stabilize the camera's position, with each weight covering one single axis of motion that is typically undampened and would have no relative position control of the camera on the part of the camera operator. Slater, while appealing for its simplicity unfortunately has drawbacks in that the counterweights add weight to the stabilizer while the extension arms add bulk to the stabilizer, making the stabilizer unwieldy to handle. A further example of a simple prior art solution would be in U.S. Pat. No. 5,742,859 to Acker that discloses a camera support and stabilizing device by again using counterweights on extension arms to allow for a stable positioning of the camera relative to movement of the base support. Acker has some further refinements in being able to adjust the extension arm and counterweight location relative to the camera.
An example of an intermediate complexity prior art solution would be in U.S. Pat. No. 4,645,320 to Muelling et al. that is a camera mount for a motor vehicle that utilizes a pendulum on a stand with a gimbal bearing between the pendulum and the stand with the camera mounted on the pendulum and the interaction between the pendulum and the stand controlled by springs and dampening elements, with the springs controlling the relative position of the camera to the motor vehicle position.
There exists a need for a camera support apparatus by providing at least an automatically leveling assistance on a camera roll axis with a degree of dampening control on the cameras corrective movement that is not especially complex, large, heavy, or expensive for a camera operator to use.